Training Measurement Part 3 – Now What?

So training measurement isn’t perfect. What to do?

• Continue to measure but understand what you’re actually measuring or not measuring. Being realistic with the use of measurement results provides more limited but more useful data. For example, Level 1 can show whether an instructor was liked enough to engage the group. If the instructor isn’t liked, it’s more likely that the training won’t be retained and used. Level 1 can also weed out “training bombs” because generally the same group of employees is evaluating all of your training efforts. That is, over time a reasonably consistent group of employees generates a “baseline” evaluation. If there’s a big negative deviation, something is wrong.
• Accept that training is likely a component and not the sole cause of business improvements. Have faith that training is directionally the correct thing to do, even if the exact results are somewhat obscure.
• Worry less about measurements and more about what it takes to meet the specific needs of the business. Relevant training that helps people do their jobs better will be effective. Irrelevant training that wastes their time will not be effective. Make sure the training you do is “right.”
• If you accept that people want to do a good job, then you also should agree that they will apply relevant new skills to the job. So don’t just do the right training, but remove all the obstacles that prevent transfer of new skills to the job. This means providing a blend of learning opportunities that meet various needs and provide skills using the technologies that people are become accustomed to.